Corporations for the Win

Posted by chelseadavison , Jan, 2010 @ 4:05 pm

Last week the Supreme Court overturned a law that had banned the right of businesses and labor unions from spending money to support political candidates. While there remains a ban on these groups giving money directly to candidates, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows corporations to buy TV time and fund advertising to help favorable politicians win their elections. Disclosure of spending is still legally mandated and so all corporate sponsorship will continue be open, however, some fear the ethical consequences this change could have in future elections. The main concern is that by giving businesses the opportunity to back candidates, politicians will compromise their personal values and responsibility to individual citizens in favor of appealing to their corporate sponsors. For example, if a Green Party member wanted to run on a platform of stricter environmental laws and higher taxation of businesses that are less eco-friendly, it would be a smart investment of a corporation to spend several million dollars on oppositional advertising to be sure the Green candidate could not be elected and that their business would not lose hundreds of millions having to adjust their practices to comply with the proposed restrictions. The Green Party candidate could either run anyway and probably lose or adjust his platform to appease the business–perhaps lessening his proposed rules or perhaps compromising on another issue important to the corporation. Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal said that the ruling is “absolutely outrageous and we’ve got to find a way to deal with it. I am on the side of ordinary working families when it comes to political campaigns. We are going to do our very best to deal with this issue.” In the past corporations influenced elections but the process of doing so was harder–they formed political action committees and were required to raise money independently rather than simply investing company money at will. The Supreme Court decision rides on the first amendment… though this decision affirms that corporations should be equal under the law as individuals, another notion many question. However, the ultimate test of this change will come in the next big election… Instead of American flag pins will candidates will be sporting “Coca Cola” tags, reciting speeches with subtle product placement? Let’s see.

Tags: campaign contribution, corporations, elections, Supreme Court, Unions